N' difofii_.' S'Alt.
SMILES. Industtial Biography. Iron-work
ers and Tool-makers. By Saml. Smiles,
author,of Self-help, Life of George Steph
enson, &,c. Author's Edition. Boston:
Ticknor & Fields. 10 mo, pp. 410.
With an Index. Price $1,25. Philadel-
phia: For sale by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
We have here the continuation of a
series of works designed to do justice to
a class of men whom the historian has
been too prone hitherto, to overlook.
Mr. Smiles has thoroughly studied his
subect, has gathered his materials from
original and trustworthy sources, and
has inwoven them with valuable dis
cussions on the more general aspects of
the field in which the various charac
ters achieved their triumphs. His sub
jects are : Iron and Civilization; Be
ginning of the Iron Manufacture in
Britain ; Iron Smelting by pit coal,
Dud Dudley; Andrew Yarranton;
Coalbrookdale Iron-works, the Darbys
and Reynoldses; Invention of Cast=steel,
Benjamin Huntsman; The Inventions
of Henry Cort ; The Scotch Iron Manu
facture, Roebuck, Mushet ; Invention
of the Hot Blast, J. B. Neilson ; Me
chanical Inventions and Inventors;
Joseph Bramah ; Henry Maudslay ;
Joseph Clement; Fox of Derby, Mur
ray of Leeds, Roberts & Whitworth of
Manchester; James Nasmyth ; William
Fairbairn. This is a rich list, and will
be found to go over the ground and lay
bare the springs of much of the mate
rial progress of modern civilization. It
contains much to quicken all true work
ers in any sphere, and to encourage, by
examples of indomitable energy and
perseverance, all who are on the point
of succumbing to the difficulties of their
station or their enterprises.
COUNSEL' AND Couroar, spoken from a City
Pulpit. By the author of Recreations of
a Country Parson. Boston : Ticknor &-
Fields. 16 mo. pp. 31L Price $1,50.
For sale by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
The author of these discourses is al
ready most favorably known to the pub
lic as the " Country Parson," who wrote
himself into fame and into a - "" city pul
pit" by his " Recreations" in Fraser's
Magazine; Rev. A. K. H. Boyd, of the
- Established Church of Scotland. The
volume before us shows the graceful,
careful writer, the genial, kindly, sym
pathising friend, and the believer en
joying and the preacher presenting
rather the sunnier aspects of his faith,
than grappling with its profound bear
ings, and &using the conscience of the
hearer. The views presented are doc
trinally correct, but commended with
winning sweetness and happy modes of
illustration that take away all appear
ance of harshness and formality. The
facile essayist is skilfully blended with
the preacher. An interesting and char
acteristic essay, on the "Close of Holi
day Time, with Some Thoughts on
Pulpits," introduces the sermons; from
which we must quote a single sentence :
"The man who has in him the spirit
and making of the preacher, could not
be kept out of the pulpit."
PAMPHLETS AND MAGAZINES
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for April, is
the first number for some months that
has seemed to us worthy of an extended
notice. We have rarely seen a better
one, with so many articles of decided
and nearly equal merit.
Fighting Facts for Fogies, is a very un
couth title to a very instructive, reada
ble article; showing how unfounded is
the prejudice against old or middle aged
generals. The writer's range is over
the entire field of written history, with
the exception of the Old Testament,
where be would have found some co
gent facts for his purpose. The read•3r
will be astounded to learn how fre
quently' the fate of the world has been
decided—so far as great battles decided
it—by quite old men. Miltiades in
Greece; Fabius in Rome, nearly eighty
when he baffled young Hannibal; Cesar
who crossed the Rubicon at fifty-one;
are examples in ancient history; while
" in modern days the number of old
generals who have gained great battles
is large, far larger than the number of
young generals of the highest class."
Turenne's greatest, campaigns were his
last, begun at sixty-two; Alva went to the
Netherlands at sixty-two and conquered
Portugal at seventy-four; Pizarro con
quered Peru at sixty; Marshall Radetz
ky was eighty-two when in 1848 he suc
cessfully undertook the suppression of
rebellion against Austria; Cromwell
was forty-four at the commencement of
his military career ; Marlborough was
fifty-two when he commenced his splen
did campaigns against Louis XIV, en
joying ten years of uninterrupted victo
ries. Wellington was forty-six at
Waterloo;, and Bluecher was seventy
two when he brought up his fifty thou
sand .Prussians and decided the day
against the French. The Russian
Snwaroff who beat Napoleonis generals
in Italy, was seventy, and Hutursoff,
who destroyed his, army in Russia, was
sixty; so that while Napoleon is usually
regarded as a trium.phant example of
the superiority of youth and general
obi Ac was overthrown by men old
enough to be his father and grandfa
ther. Our own Washington was fifty
at Yorktown, and Rochambeau who
helped him was fifty-six. General
Jackson - was nearly forty-eight _in
Louisiana, and General Scott was sixty
when he started on his triumphal
march from Vera Cruz to Mexico.—
General Taylor was two years his se
nior. The generals in the present war
are just about in the prime of life.
General Grant is forty-two, General
Meade forty-eight, Banks, Hooker,
Burnside, Rosecrans, Sickles, the two
Shermans, McDowell, Pope, Halleck,
range from forty to forty-eight; Banks,
the most energetic, perhaps, of all, be
ing forty-eight. General Lyon was
forty-two, General _Kearney forty
seven. General A. S. Johnston, the
ablest of rebel generals, fell at Shiloh,
aged forty-nine. Lee, who is regarded
by many as having shown the greatest
military capacity on either side, is about
fifty-six. While the " the young chief
tain," whose extraordinary tardiness
and excessive caution have cost us so
incalculably and brought us little else
but the unsatisfactory victory of Antie
tam, was thirty-five when summoned to
Washington. The aged may take heart.
The greatest merely human deeds of
the world's history, were performed af
ter the actors had got to the downhill
side of life.
The Wreck of Rivermouth,, is a fine
poem in ballad style, founded on an in
cident in colonial times. The School
master's Story is a charming love tale,
ingenious,pure and healthful: Pictor Ig
flatus, is the resurrection to public no
tice of an eccentric genius who wrote
startling poetry and engraved for the
London booksellers, and was the com
panion of Flaxman and Fuseli, a hun
dred years ago in London—more curious
than valuable. Mrs. Stowe, who ab
surdly persists in using a masculine
nom de plume, though every body knows
" Christopher Crowfield" to be a wo
man, continues her valuable series of
House and Home Papers, the subject at
this time being The Econornyof the Beau
tiful, a very suggestive, comforting es
say to people With more culture than
wealth. The " Black Preacher," unlike
a good deal of the poetry current in the
"Atlantic," is better in the moral pur
pose than in the artistic execution.
Fouquet the Manificent is a leaf from
French history that should be read be
side that of , Cardinal Woolsey, in. En
glish, both being bold comments of Pro
vidence on the favorite text of Ecclesias
tics. Among the _Mormons, is an admira
ble account of a visit to these repulsive
people, from one who, with a just indig
nation against their crime, combined a
seemingly calm and impartial judgment,
and who determined to recognize and
acknowledge everything really com
mendable among them ' . B e shows
their disloyalty to the Union, their
complicity with the murder of emi
grants across the plains, their practice
of assassinating renegades from their
own number, the complete despotism of
Brigham Young over the community,
and utter absence of anything like a re
publican form of government. His con
viction is, that with the death of. Brig
ham, now nearly seventy years old, the
whole Mormon system will fall inevita
bly to pieces. Several factions are al
ready in existence, restrained from open
rupture by his influence. A valuable
part of this paper, is the exceedingly
graphic description of the natural fea
tures of the Rocky Mountain district,
and especially of the power of the wind
in cutting the sand bluffs into their gro
tesque and artificial-seeming-forms. On
Picket Duty is ft fine poem . . We have
not read Dr. Holmes's article, Our Pro
gessive Independence, pronunced good by
competent critics, but this number in
cluding book notices, has presented no
objectionable line to our eyes, and is
full of valuable and suggestive as well
as finely written pieces.
THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY for
April, contains Sir Charles Lyell on the
Antiquity of Man, by a [deposed (?)]
Presbyterian clergyman. Aenone. The
Great Lakes to. St. Paul. Our Govern
raent and the Blacks. Was he Success
ful? by Kimball. Benedict and the
Benedictines, by Ph. Schaff, D. D., &c.
John F. Trow, New York.
ANNUAL REPORT of the Managers of
the Western Pennsylvania Hospital for
the Insane; for 1863.
FORTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of
the American Colonization Society.
Washington, D. C., 1864.
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT Of
the French Canadian Missionary So
ciety; January. 28, 1864. Montreal.
LITTELL'S LIVING AGE for March 26,
completes the eightieth volume.
BIBLE VIEW OF SLAVERY, OT Bishop
Hopkins reviewed by a layman. Co
pies may be had at the Union League
House.
ATRIOULTURAL COLLEGE OF lOWA.
Fifth Annual Report of the Secretary
of the lowa State Agricultural Society
to the General Assembly of lowa, Feb
ruary, 1864.
This is a document of eighty-eight
octavo pages, presenting the condition
anduse made of the College Fund--there
PHILAD LPHI THE APRIL 7 1864-..,
is no college, only a farm of 600 acres
as yet, together with a very full account
of the agricultural interests of the State
during the year. It is a document of
great value and well calculated to foster
that fundamental branch of industry.
We are indebted to Rev. Thompson
Bird, of Des Moines, for a copy.
THE MONTHLIES.
GOREY'S LADIES' BOOK for April
LADY'S FRIEND
ARTHUR'S ROME MAGAZINE
STUDENT AND SCHOOLMATE, Boston
The Revival is a weekly London pa
per which originated in the great re
ligious excitement of 1858 and was
designed especially to communicate
intelligence of the movement. Whether
from the dearth of such matter which
now, in comparison at least with that
blessed era, prevails, or from some
other cause, it has become the advo
cate, says, the TVeekly Review, of the pe
culiar views regarding the Saviour's sec
ond advent, known as " pre-millenarian
ism." The Review complains of the tone
of assumption pervading its leading ar
ticles. "It would seem that the propa
gation of these views is actually to be
regarded as The Revival."
The Edinburgh Witness, a weekly pa
per in the interest of the Free church,
and famous as founded and edited with
great ability by Hugh Miller to the time
of his death, has become extinct, within
eight years after the death of its
founder. It opposed Presbyterian Un
ion and was wearisomely anti-papal.
It tried to carry Hugh Miller's princi
ples without his genius and great name
to leaven them—though-at this stage
of ecclesiastical movements even those
talismans of success would have been
powerless in the face of the overwhelm
ing movetnents towards union.
Rev. Dr. Cummings' new serial; Lira
AND LESSONS OF OUR LORD; has made
its appearance in London. Three parts
have been issued. They are well spoken
of, both as to manner and matter.
PULPIT ELOQUENCE OF ITALY;
[TRANSLATED PROM' . A GERMAN RELIGIOUS
There is no connection necessarily
between public worship and preaching
among the 'Roman Catholics of Italy.'
Sometimes a mass precedes or follows,
but often the sermon stands entirely iso
lated, without liturgy or public prayer.
The address : " 0 signori" commences
and the " Amen" concludes the whole
service. Regular preaching is common
in very few churches, except that in
seasons of fast, many churches hay.e
daily sermons. It is a matter. of pride
for the Orders to put forth their best
orators at these times; the brethren are
summoned from bear" and far. Tlietie
men become remarkably fluent and
ready, as they preach the same dis
courses year after year. Saints' days,
too, furnish them topics drawn from
the marvellous histories of these char
acters. 'From Christmas to Easter the
Jesuits preach in all the languages of
Europe, in the Church of St. Andrea
della Valle, at Rome.
Generally the preacher begins by a
prayer before the crucifix at the rails,
and then bows low in every direction
to the congregation. An uncommon
degree of animation characterizes 'all
Italian preachers. The channel is wide
enough to allow a constant movement
to and fro. Hand and voice, with many
preachers, are in a continuous tremoli.
A Capuchin in Naples, who was describ
ing envy under the figure of a monster,
with wildly rolling eyes, clenched fin
gers, and body all drawn up, represent
ed. the creature in pantomine to his
hearers, and indicated the moment when
the monster seized his prey, by a spring
from one side of the chancel to the
other. In like manner he represented
the lance which should have pierded
the heart of David, as energetically as
if he held the weapon in his hand.
Yetone soon learns to passthese mere ex
ternals by and to recognize many proofs
of an overpowering eloquence—not how
ever of a sacred eloquence. As the
sermon fails to reach the deeps of the
human heart to reveal the soul's grief
and longing, so it does not sink into
the depths of the life of Je=us, to draw
at the fountain all power of redemption
and sanctification.
There is every week a sermon by the
Capuchins, in that colossal wonder and
monument of Roman art—the Colos
seum. Going thither at one time with
great expectations, -we found only a
mean monk, putting himself to great
pains and, using endless tautologies to
show the glory of the marriage- of
Joseph and Mary. "A very extraordi
nary marriage this, between the purest
of all youth, Joseph, and the purest of
all- maidens, Mary; for Joseph, the
purest of- all youth, had, like Mary, the
purest of all maidens, taken the vow of
purity; and upon the whole earth, was
there no solitary youth purer than
Joseph, and no solitary maiden purer
than the most holy virgin." With such
endless repetitions he went on, and
closed his sermon, by admonishing his
hearers, that, since they could- not be
saved without the intercession of Joseph
and Mary, they should make every ef
fort to attain the same purity, and, thus
win the favor of the sainted pair. The
Capuchin took the crucifix from the
chancel, handed it to one of the hro-
LITERARY ITEMS
PERIODICAL.)
therhood to carry before the procession,
others followed with lanterns in their
hands and the veiled company departed,
chanting, from the place.
Another held up to his hearers - the
levity, with which, for the sake of a
, few cents, they neglected the mass. "If
your relatives are sick you run to a
physician and spend entire scudi ; but
to
,ransom the souls of your loved ones
from the dreadful fire of purgatory,
you think a few pauls too many. 0
wh.athlindness l'' It is utterly incredi
ble how barren of thought many of
these'preachers are. At Naples in the
Church of St. Maria del Carmine, we
heard a sermon on the text : A sinner
r
is worse than a stone, a beast, or the
devil. The mode of proof was in this
wise : When God created the earth, he
called upon the rooks to gather them
selvps into hills, and the rocks obeyed
his ivoice. But man, whom God also
callg, obeys not; . ergo, he is worse than a
stone. . The dog follows his master's
call.. But man follows not the call of
God his master; ergo he is worse than
i
a bast. The devil when he opposes
God harms nobody but himself. But
raaniinvolves himself and his associates
inin. Ergo, man is worse than a
'ston , a beast or the devil. Quod erat
dent stranduin. The audience—mostly
I .
lazzfroni and fishermen—could advance
nothtng against the proof.
In' ome especially, preaching serves
fora'..° e exaltation of Mary and the
Saiii, #, the recommending of the con
fessin and the praise of the priesthood.
On his ,last topic the declamations
t ,
some imes border on sheer insanity.
A Je nit whom we heard, attempted to
shovi that the priest, at the moment of
conse rating the.elements was equal to
God,, - ea stood even above God, because
he errated God ! [2 These. 2 : 4.] An
other complained of the low estimate
held if the priestly order. " .11," said
he; ifi. I the vigor of health you despise
the p J ests, think of the hour of death
When you lie helpless on your beds
witho it .comfort or peace.' Who can
help Jou then ? None but the priest,
who forgives your sins, softens the pains
of the flaming fire and opens the gate
.
of he -en to your soul."
Ap ominent place in preaching is °c
ouple.
\. by the argument against Pro
tests ttsm. A Roman preacher accused
,
the 4 accursed heretics" of inducing the
.
Cath lies in his native city, Bologna,
by ors of:money and bread to, em
, v -
brace ' a godless creed of Protestant
ism.(
"Ify poor native 'city!" heex
,
claimed, " that halt seen so many saints
within thy walls, and art now given up
to the bloodthirsty rage of Bible-ped
dling wolies. 0 fortunate, happy Ro
mans, whom 'this pestilence may not
reach ! who have the most sacred virgin
to pray for you and help you in 'all
need." A Jesuit who preached upon
the text: "I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last," and. Who
endeaVored to prove that the morality,
of Chilst was more excellent than that
of all other religions,drew the foll O
wing ingenious parallels : "You have
heard of the high morality of Plato.
But in a .dialogue called ' The State,'he
'recommends a plurality of wives. Mo
hammed founded a new religion, but he
allowed polygamy. You know that.
Luther and Calvin undertook to lc:Rind
a new religion, but they fell into such
dreadful immoralities that '.I may not so
mue.h.a,s name them in your presence."
Still another,preaching in Passion-week,
ascrised the mystic sufferings of Christ,
to his grief at the existence of Protest
antism. In Naples, the existence of
three Evangelical Italian Churches
drives them beyond all bounds in their
anti-Protestant polemics. A Capuchin
preaching with great eloquence in a
crowded cathedral of that city, on
"Woman," declared that fornication
and adultery were' protected by the
laws of Protestant States. In another
sermon he, declared it was not only a
frequent but a common thing in Eng
land, for parents to kill their children
and dispose of the bodies for anatomi
cal uses. Incredible as the story was,
it roused the superstitious females of
Naples—who credit the incredible most
readily—to fanaticism.
A very interesting sermon was preach
ed by the same man upon " The neces
sity of works to Salvation."
[CONCLUDED IN OUR NEXT.]
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON UNION.
BETWEEN TIIE FREE AND UNITED PRESBY-
TERIAN CHURCHES
At the quarterly meeting of the Free
Church Assembly held in March, Dr.
Buchanan read the following interim
report of the Committee on Union, ap
pointed by the Assembly of 1863. In
giving in the report Dr. Buchanan
stated that it would not at the present
stage be competent for the Commission
to discuss its terms :
The Committee of the Free Church, and
the Committee of the United Presby
terian Church, have been engaged in
considering the question of the relation
of the Civil Magistrate to Religion
and the Church. Etie
I. With reference to that question, the
following are the Articles of Agree-
merit beiween the two Committees :
1., That civil government is an ordi
nance of God for His own glory and . the
public, good; that to the Lord Jesus
Christ, is given all power in heaven and
on earth; and that magistrates, as Well
as other Men, are under obligation to
submit themselves to Him, and to regu
late their conduct, in their several places
and relations, by His Word.
11. That the civil magistrate ought to
further the interests of the religion of
the Lord Jesus Christ among his sub
jects, in every way consistent with its
spirit and enactments; and to be ruled
by it in the making of laws, the admin
istration of justice, the swearing of
oaths, and other matters of civil juris
diction.
111.. That, while it is the_ duty of the
civil magistrate to embrace and profess
the Christian religion, it is not his prov
ince to impose a creed or a form of wor
ship upon his subjects, or to interfere
with that government which the Lord
lesus has appointed in His Charon, in
the hands of church officers—it being
the exclusive prerogative of the Lord
Jesus to rule in matters of faith and
worship, and that the civil magistrate is
not to further the interests of religion
by means inconsistent with its spirit and
enactments, which disclaim and prohibit
all persecution.
IF. That marriage, the 'Sabbath, and
the appointment of days of national
humiliation and thanksgiving, are prac
tical instances to which these principles
apply. (1.) In regard to marriage, the
civil magistrate may and ought to frame
his marriage laws according to the rule
of the Divine Word. (2.) In regard to
the Sabbath, the civil magistrate, recog
nizing its perpetual Obligation according
to the rule_of the Divine Word, espe
cially as contained in the original institu
tion of the Sabbath,, in the Fourth Com
mandment, and in the teaching and: ex
ample of our Lord and His Apostles,
and in its inestimable value many ways
to human society, may and ought, in his
administration, to respect its sacred
character, to legislate in the matter of
its outward observance, and to protect
the people in the enjoyment of the privi
lege of resting from their week-day. oc
cupations, and devoting the whole day,
as they may see fit, to the public and
private exercises of Divine worship.
(3.) The civil magistrate may, and .on
suitable occasions ought to, appoint
days on which his subjects shall be l in
vited to engage in acts of humiliation or
of thanksgiving: but without authoiita
tively prescribing or enforcing any
special form of religious service,' or
otherwise interposing his authority be
yond securing to them the opportunity
of exercising their free discretion for
these purposes.
Y. That the Church and the State,
being ordinances of God distinct Nom
each other, theY,are capable of , eAst)ng
without either of them intruding into
the proper , province of the other, (i.nd.
ought not so to intrude. Brastianisu
premacy of the State over the Church,
and anti-Christian domination of the
church over the State, ought to be Con
demned ; and all schethes of connexion
involving or tending to either are, there
fore, to be avoided. The church has a
spiritual authority over such of the sub
jects and rulers of earthly kingdoms as
are in her communion, and the civil
powers have the same secular authority
over the members and office-bearers of
the church as, over the rest of their sub
jects. Bat the Church has no power
over earthly kingdoms in their collective
and civil capacity, nor have they any
power over her as a church.
VI. That, though thus distinct, the
Church and State owe mutual duties, to
each other, and, acting according to
their respective spheres, may be signally
subservient to each others welfare. ;
IL With reference to the same question,
the following aro statements of dis
tinctive principles about which the
two Committees differ :
STATEMENTS OE FREE CHURCH COMMITTEE
I. That while the civil magistrate
mast not so sustain himself a public
judge of true or false religion as to dic
tate to his subjects in matters of faith,
and has no authority in spiritual things,
yet, owning obligation to Christ, he may
lawfully acknowledge, as being in accor
dance with the Word of God, the creed
and jurisdiction of the church.
As a further act of homage to Christ,
it is his duty, when necessary or expedient,
to employ the national resources in aid of
the Church,provided always that in doing
SO ) while reserving to himself full con
trol over the temporalities, which are
his own gift, he abstain from all authori
tative interference in the internal gov
ernment of the Church. And while the
Church must ever maintain the essential
and perpetual obligation which Christ
has laid on all His people to support and
extend his Church by freewill offerings,
yet in entire consistency with said obli
gation, the church may lawfully accept aid
from the civil magistrate when her spiri- '
teal independence is preserved entire.
But it must always be a question to be
judged of; according to times and cir
cumstances, whether or not such aid
ought to be given by the civil magis
trate, as well as whether or not it ought
to be accepted by the church. And the
question must,. in every instance, be
decided by each of the two parties judg
ing for itself, on its own responsibility.
If. It follows from the preceding Ar
ticles, that any branch of the Christian
Church consenting to be in alliance with
the State, and to accept its aid, upon the
condition of being subject to the authori
tative control of the State or its Courts
in spiritual matters—or continuing in
such connection with the State as in
voles such subjection—must be, held to
be so far unfaithful to the Lord Jesus
Christ as King and Head of His Church.
And upon this ground, in accordance
with the history and constitutional
principles of the church of Scotland, a
protest is to be maintained against the
present Establishment in Scotland.
STATEMENTS OP UNITED PRESBYTERIAN
COMMITTEE
1. That inasmuch as the civil magis
trate has no authority in spiritual
things, and as the employment of force
in such matters is opposed to the spirit
and. precepts of Christianity, it is not
within his province to legislate as to what
is true - in religion; to prescribe a creed
or form of worship to his subjecta, or to
endow the church from national resour
ces; that Jesus Christ, as sole King and
Head of His Church, has enjoined upon
His people to provide for maintaining
and extending it by freewill offerings;
that this being Christ's ordinance, it ex
cludes State aid for these purposes; and
that adherence to it is the true safeguard
of the Church's independence.
11. That the United Presbyterian
Church, without requiring from her
members any approval of the steps of
procedure by their fathers, or interfer
ing with the, rights of private judgment
in reference to them, are united in re
garding as still - valid the reasons on
which they have hitherto maintained
their state of secession and separation
from the judicatories of the Established
Church, as expressed in the authorized
documents of the respective bodies of
which the United Presbyterian Church
is formed—and in maintaining the law
fulness and obligation of separation
from ecclesiastical bodies in which dan
gerous error is tolerated, or the disci
pline of the church or the rights of her
ministry or members are disregarded.
Moreover, though uniformity of opin
ion with respect to civil establishments of
religion is not a term of communion in the
United Presbyterian Church, yet the
views on this subject held, and univer
sally acted on, are, opposed to these in
stitutions; and the statements set forth
in theseloistinctive Articles are regarded
by that Church as a protest against the
Church Establishment in Scotland.
OIEURCH BUTTES.
Before we enter the City of the
Saints, let me briefly describe the great
est,-not merely of the architectural cu<
riosities, but, in my opinion, the great
est natural curiosity of arty kind which
I have ever, seen or heard of.
They are situated a short distance
from Fort Bridger.;the overland road
passes by their sie. They consist of
a sand-stone bluff, reddish-brown in
color, rising with the abruptness of a
pile of masonry fromthe perfectly level
plain, carved along its perpendicular
face into a series of partially connected
religious edifices, the most remarkable
of which is a cathedral as colossal as
St. Peter's, and completely relieved
from the bluff on all sides save the rear,
where a portico joins it with the main
precipice. The perfect symmetry of
'this marvellous structure would ravish
Michel Angelo. So far from requiring
an effort of imagination to recognize
the propriety of its name, this church
almost staggers= belief in the unassisted
naturalness of its architecture. It be
longs to a style entirely its own. Its
main and lower portion is not divided
into nave and transept, but seems like
a system of huge semi-cylinders erected
on their bases, and united with re-en
trant angles, their convex surfaces to
ward us, so that the ground-plan might
be called a species of quatre-foil. In
each of the convex faces is an admi
rably, proportioned door-way, a Gothic
arch with deep-carved and elaborately
fretted mouldings, so wonderfully per
fect in its imitation that you almost
feel like knocking for admittance, se
cure of an entrance, did you only know
the " Open sesame." Between and be
hind the doors, alternating with flying
buttresses, are a series of deep-niched
windows, set with grotesque statues,
varying from the pigmy to the colossal
size, representing demons rather than
saints, though some of the figures are
costumed in the style of religious art,
with flowing sacerdotal garments.
The structure terminates above in a
double dome, whose -figure may be im
agined by supposing a small acorn set
on the truncated top of a large one,
(the horizontal diameter of both being
considerably longer in proportion to
the perpendicular than is common with
that fruit,) and each of these domes is
surrounded by a row of prism-shaped
pillars, half column, half buttress in
their effect, somewhat similar to the
exquisite columnar entourage of the cen
tral cylinder of the leaning tower of
Pisa. The result of this arrangement
is an aerial, yet massive beauty, without
parallel in the architecture of the world.
I have not conveyed to any mind an
idea -of the grandeur of this pile, nor
could I, even with the assistance of a
diagram. I can only say that the Ca
thedral Buttes are a lesson for the ar
chitects of all Christendom,—a purely
novel and original creation, of such
marvellous beauty that Bierstadt and
I simultaneously exclaimed,—"-Oh that
the master-buikiers of the world could
come here for a single day. I The re
sult would be an entirely new style of
architectare,—an American school, as
distinct from all the rest as the lonic
from the Gothic or Byzantine." If they
could come the art of building would
have a regeneration. "Amazing" is the
only word for this glorious work of _Na
ture. I could have bowed down with
awe and prayed at one of its vast, in
imitable door-ways, but that the mys
tery of its creation, and the grotesque
ness of even its most glorious statues,
made one half dread lest it were some
temple built by demon-hands for the
worship of the Lord of Hell, and sealed
in the stone-dream of petrification, with
its priests struck dumb within it, by the
hand of God, to wait the judgment of
Elbis and the earthquake's of the Last
Day. Atlantic Monthly.
Or TEN lepers, only one returned to
give thanks, which shows, that by na•
ture, without grace, overswaying us e it
is ten to one if we be thankful,—.Thona
_
Fuller.
107